Great gifts for the eleventh hour or any hour, with Doug Flamm of Ursus books

by leslierankowfinearts

Museum of Modern ArtNew York

ONE OF MOST ENRICHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR AN ART FANATIC TO ENRICH THEIR UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF A PERIOD OF ART IS THE CHANCE TO STUDY A FIRST-TIER MUSEUM OR PRIVATE COLLECTION. A THOUGHTFULLY CURATED SURVEY OF THE BEST POSSIBLE EXAMPLES OF ARTISTS’ WORKS IS ONE OF THE GREAT LEARNING TOOLS AND SOURCES OF INSPIRATION THAT A BRILLIANT CURATORIAL MIND CAN PROVIDE. IN TODAY’S LRFA POST, DOUG FLAMM OF URSUS BOOKS WILL INTRODUCE SOME OUTSTANDING MUSEUM AND EXHIBITION CATALOGUES TO ADD TO YOUR LIBRARY OR, IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT, TO GIFT TO OTHERS. URSUS BOOKS WORKS DILIGENTLY OFFERING CUSTOMERS ART BOOKS THAT COVER THE BEST AND MOST COMPELLING EXHIBITIONS WORLDWIDE AND PROVIDE A DELICIOUS “ARM CHAIR” JOURNEY TO ALL THE GREAT EXHIBITIONS AND MUSEUM COLLECTIONS THAT WE MIGHT OTHERWISE MISS.

The ModernFort Worth, Texas

THE OVERVIEW OF A COLLECTION OR EXHIBITION OF GREAT CALIBER IS OFTEN DOCUMENTED IN AN EQUALLY RICH, INFORMATIVE AND ELEGANTLY CONCEIVED ART BOOK THAT PROVIDES PERMANENT DOCUMENTATION OF THE CHARACTER OF A COLLECTION IN GENERAL AND A CURATORIAL PERSPECTIVE SPECIFIC TO THE TIME OF PUBLICATION, A SAMPLING OF THE QUALITY, RANGE OF APPROACHES AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT FROM WHICH THE COLLECTION HAS EMERGED. http://www.ursusbooks.com

Museum LudwigCologne, Germany

THE LUDWIG MUSEUM IN COLOGNE IS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED STRONGHOLDS OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART IN EUROPE. THANKS TO THE GENEROUS DONATION OF COLOGNE LAWYER, JOSEF HAUBRICH, ESTABLISHED IN 1946, IT HOLDS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM. THIRTY YEARS LATER, ANOTHER SPECTACULAR GIFT BY COLLECTORS PETER AND IRENE LUDWIG ESTABLISHED THE MUSEUM AS A CORNERSTONE OF AMERICAN POP ART. http://www.museum-ludwig.de/en/

A RARE COPY OF A UNIQUE CATALOGUE OF THE LUDWIG COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY ART IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT URSUS, A GIFT THAT WOULD RESONATE WITH ANY COLLECTOR AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR.

This is the definitive fifth revised edition of this famous and striking exhibition catalogue, which is itself a work of art.

Wolf Vostell designed the catalogue for the Ludwig collection of contemporary art, given as a permanent loan to the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne. The covers are embossed plastic, and the 209 colour plates are tipped-in on special paper and covered with printed transparencies.

The work of 92 artists is represented, including Dine, Dubuffet, Hockney, Jasper Johns, Lichtenstein, Oldenburg, Picasso, Rauschenberg, Vostell, Warhol, and Wols. This final fifth edition includes 222 objects, 124 more than appeared in the first edition. A fine copy of the fragile and remarkable catalogue.

THE WAREHOUSE DALLAS REPRESENTS AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO ART PHILANTHROPY. TWO DALLAS SUPERCOLLECTORS, CINDY AND HOWARD RACHOFSKY AND AMY AND VERNON FALCONER, IN THE EXPANSIVE TEXAS SPIRIT THAT I LOVE, JOINED FORCES TO TRANSFORM A 18,000 SQUARE FOOT FACILITY IN THEIR HOMETOWN INTO AN ELEGANT GALLERY EXHIBITING WORKS FROM THEIR INDIVIDUAL COLLECTIONS AS WELL AS THOSE ACQUIRED JOINTLY WITH FELLOW DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART TRUSTEES TO SHARE THESE COLLECTIONS WITH CURATORS, SCHOLARS, CRITICS AND STUDENTS AND TO OPEN NEW DIALOGUES ABOUT POST-WAR MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART.

PARALLEL VIEWSItalian and Japanese art from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s

A CURATORIAL TOUR DE FORCE BY THE ASTUTE ALLAN SCHWARZMAN UNITED TWO UNEXPECTEDLY DIVERSE AREAS OF ART IN A 2014 EXHIBITION ENTITLED PARALLEL VIEWS: ITALIAN AND JAPANESE ART FROM THE 1950s, 60s and 70s. IN THE DECADES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, BOTH JAPAN AND ITALY WERE REBUILDING AFTER THE RAVAGES OF WAR. PARALLEL VIEWS PRESENTS A BREADTH OF POSTWAR MASTERS OF ITALIAN AND JAPANESE ART AND UNDERLINES THE AESTHETIC PARALLELS BETWEEN THE SENSIBILITY OF THE ARTE POVERA ARTISTS SUCH AS BURRI, FONTANA AND PENONE WITH THAT OF THE MASTERS OF THE GUTAI MOVEMENT IN JAPAN THAT INCLUDES TAKESADA, MURAKAMI AND KAZUO AND THE REMARKABLE MONO-HA LUMINARIES SUCH AS LEE UFAN AND SUGA KISHIO.

SCHWARZMAN, ALLAN (ed). Parallel Views: Italian and Japanese Art from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. 408 pages, including 240 color plates. 4to, cloth. Bologna, Damiani, 2014. (#158439) $75.00 A fabulously lush publication documenting an exhibition which brings together Italian and Japanese works from The Rachofsky and The Amy and Vernon Faulconer collections. The show explores the porous transnational borders between the artists of the ZERO and Arte Povera movements (Fontana, Burri, Manzoni, Paolini), and those of the Gutai, and early Mono-ha (Yoshihara, Shiraga, Matsutani, Ufan). Essays bookending the full-page, highly saturated color plates examine the works individually, and as part of the postwar environments from which they emerged. The text of a panel discussion on the show is both thoughtful and accessible. The final chapter, “Pairings” offers striking juxtapositions of works from both countries.

Parallel ViewsThe WarehouseDallas, Texas

IN OUR NEXT LRFA POST, DOUG OFFERS A FEW ADDITIONAL GEMS THAT WILL ARE BOUND TO BE VERY WELL RECEIVED EVEN IF A LITTLE LATE FOR UNDER THE TREE.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE LRFA BLOG TO EXTEND HOLIDAY WISHES TO ALL THE CONTRIBUTORS WHO WORK SO HARD ON THE BLOG AND ARE SO APPRECIATED AND TO ALL THE WONDERFUL READERS AND SUBSCRIBERS WHO SUPPORT THESE EFFORTS.